Clandestine lab operators are not the mad scientists whose genius keeps them pent up in the laboratory contemplating elaborate formulas and mixing exotic chemicals. In fact, their equipment is usually simple, their chemicals household products, and their education basic. Most of the time the elements at the scene are perfectly legal to sell and own. It is only in the combination of all these elements that the lab becomes the scene of a criminal operation. Forensic Investigation of Clandestine Laboratories guides you, step-by-step, through the process of recognizing these illegal manufacturing operations. Then it shows you how to prove it in the courtroom. In non-technical language this book details: How to recognize a clandestine lab How to process the site of a clandestine lab How to analyze evidence in the examination laboratory What to derive from the physical evidence How to present the evidence in court The identification and investigation of a clandestine lab, and the successful prosecution of the perpetrators, is a team effort. A collaboration of law enforcement, forensic experts, scientists, and criminal prosecutors is required to present a case that definitively demonstrates how a group of items with legitimate uses are being used to manufacture an illegal controlled substance. Providing an understanding of how the pieces of the clandestine lab puzzle fit together, this book outlines the steps needed to identify and shut down these operations, as well as successfully prosecute the perpetrators.

Hazardous Waste and Solid Waste covers the life of municipal solid waste, bulky (C&D) waste and hazardous waste. It provides in-depth coverage on all aspects of waste characterization, treatment, disposal, and recovery. The book identifies the sources of solid waste, provides general information of the quantities of waste generated and discarded, and examines the potential effects of solid waste on daily life and the environment. It also defines hazardous waste, and provides the criteria environmental engineers must use to determine if material is indeed a waste. The editors give attention to the unique problems of risk assessment, including the Hazard Ranking System and the National Priority List, and transport of hazardous materials. It addresses radioactivity individually, with sections devoted to the principles and sources of radioactivity, safety standards, detection, analysis, recovery, low-level radioactive waste, and high-level radioactive waste. The guide explores municipal waste reduction, material recovery and refuse-derived fuel within a catalog of options for solid waste. Hazardous and Solid Waste is an excellent fundamental resource for those involved in any aspect of waste management. Béla G. Lipták speaks on Post-Oil Energy Technology on the AT&T Tech Channel.

Methamphetamine (meth), a drug with limited medical use and high potential for abuse and addiction, is a subject of widespread concern. Once associated mainly with the West Coast and white, male, blue-collar workers, illicit meth is now used by diverse population groups nation-wide, with concentrations in the West, Southwest, and Midwest. Meth is supplied primarily by clandestine labs in California and Mexico. The drug is relatively simple to make from easily obtained recipes, but access to certain ingredients has become more difficult. Meth production in small, toxic labs (STLs) increased initially due to the successful closure of some "super-labs" (labs capable of making more than 10 pounds of meth in a 24-hour cycle), relative ease of making meth, continuing demand for the drug, and desire for potential wealth and involvement in a criminal underground social activity. Although the greater fraction of meth used and distributed across the nation comes from super-labs, the sheer number of STLs, their geographic diffusion, and their residual impacts have prompted concern across a wide spectrum of the country.